Following a two-year hiatus, much-loved Tex/Mex barbecue hot spot Austin Republic is back and had a soft opening at their new brick-and-mortar location on July 25.
Originally serving chef Jimmy Strine's delicious 'cue from a tricked-out shipping container/kitchen in West Palm Beach, they've now made the leap and opened their first brick-and-mortar restaurant… in North Palm Beach.
Yes, you heard that right, so before you go rushing down to their old location on South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, they're back, but not back there... just yet.
That location, which closed in April 2024 with the plan to reopen in brick-and-mortar form on the same site two months later, is still in the works and slowly, but surely, making progress.
The new location serving up Strine's brisket, smoked pork, amazing rotisserie chicken and tacos, along with many new delicacies is located at the former home of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse at 661 US 1.
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The space occupies 7,000 square feet and compared to their shipping container and picnic tables, offers them practically endless possibilities.
If you're worried that they won't offer the same favorite dishes they did on South Dixie Highway, don't. Strine said they'll all be available plus many new additions to get those taste buds salivating.
Two new sides Strine is most excited about are their smoked wings and their yuca tots. Yes, 'yuca tots.' Just like tater tots only with yuca. Strine says they first boil the yuca, chop it, hit it with Sazon Completa spice blend before mixing it with lemon and herbs. The mix is then rolled into little logs and then sliced into tots. The tots are then tossed in corn flour, deep fried to order and served with a mojo aioli.
For their new smoked wings, there's no 'we've got 57 flavors and styles and blah, blah, blah.' What they do have is one variety that is given the royal treatment. They are first given a generous dry spice rub before being refrigerated overnight. The next day they are smoked for two hours. They are then flash fried to order and served drizzled with their housemade bbq/ranch sauce. When asked how they've been received, Strine just smiled and said with confidence "no one is complaining."
When asked if there any dishes that customers are loving in particular, Strine said "Nothing stands out" before clarifying with "everything." He said people have been gushing over the food. Even with the glitches that come with opening a new restaurant and on nights when things haven't gone as smoothly as they would have liked, Strine said that their food has been their salvation with people raving about it.
As far as business, they've had some incredible nights already. Their third night open Strine said they did nearly 400 tickets.
In addition to the expanded menu, with the massive amount of additional kitchen space, he said "we'll be able to execute things a little nicer." Featuring all new kitchen equipment, including a salamander, Strine said they can do nachos now and laughed "we can actually melt cheese."
In addition to all new kitchen equipment, they've remodeled the front of the building to include roll up garage doors they can open when the weather is nice and have gone full Tex/Mex on the decor.
Though the food will bring them in, Strine stresses that this will be "a place to be." How so? There will be ping pong tables, foosball and cornhole outside along with dartboards and video games inside.
This new iteration features a full bar, with multiple beers on tap, that is separate from the main dining area and features 16 big-screen televisions. Strine said they have the NFL-package and show games from around the country.
Currently open for dinner, they will soon expand to include lunch, then a weekend brunch and ultimately "a 24-hour walk-up window, kind of like Havana does."
Strine said the dining room closes around 10 p.m., but the bar area will remain open until 2 a.m. some nights.
When talking to some of the locals, Strine said it was a mix of opinions about staying open late. One group said basically, "North Palm doesn't really have a night life," while the other replied "That's because there's nothing to do."
Though still in their 'soft opening' phase, Strine said they are working with Village of North Palm Beach officials to do a full ribbon-cutting, grand opening ceremony. He said currently, they are shooting for Labor Day.
Austin Republic
Where: 661 US 1, North Palm Beach
Hours: 4 p.m. to close, seven days a week
Information: facebook.com/people/Austin-Republic-NPB
Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.